Wicked Local's top five video games of 2016

Tuesday

Dec 27, 2016 at 12:19 PMDec 27, 2016 at 1:45 PM

Tim McCarthy tmccarthy@wickedlocal.com @HWChronicle

Wicked Local North tapped our collective video game playing experience and knowledge, which consisted strictly of myself arguing with myself, to put together our top five video game recommendations of 2016. 5: Firewatch Publisher: Panic, Developer: Camp SantoPlatforms: PC, OSX, Playstation 4, Xbox One Summary: An everyman takes a summer job as a park ranger; his attempt at self discovery goes poorly. "Walking Simulators," as games akin to "Firewatch" have become synonymous with, are a rallying point for video games as a medium for some, placing an interactive narrative above high scores or number crunching. Others see them as a continuation of gaming's modern decline, where developers take a failed attempt a stage play and force you to hit a few keys to advance the script. "Firewatch" will not dissuade either camp from their views, but does provide an almost best-in-genre experience with well developed characters to interact with and a lush, stylized rendering of Wyoming to explore. You'll do little more walk through the woods, chart a map, and solve some simple puzzles focused primarily on expanding the ways you can navigate the environment in the game. But the well-written banter between protagonists Henry and Delilah, brought to life through some flawless voice work, makes you develop an emotional connection to the characters during the four or so hours it'll take a typical player to finish the game. It's just a shame, however, that a B-plot brought in during the early moments of the story seemingly fizzles out with a poor resolution and even worse pacing that drags the final hour or so down. 4: Batman- The Telltale Series Publisher/Developer: Telltale GamesPlatforms: PC, OSX, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, iOS/Android Summary: Na, na, na, na, na, you're Batman. Since 2012, Telltale Games has produced a multitude of their patented games based upon countless popular media properties from "Game of Thrones," "The Walking Dead," and even "Minecraft." For those who haven't played them before, Telltale doles out the content in each of their games over several months in episodes similar to a TV series. During the game, player interaction is essentially limited to choosing the next dialogue response and character reactions during climatic moments. At the end of a given episode, the player is shown a chart showing what choices they made compared to the collective playerbase at large. It's simple, but provides a fun, almost communal, experience for a story. "Batman," as you'd expect, is their take on the caped crusader and his double-identity as Bruce Wayne. Telltale's adaptation, however, isn't based upon any existing comic or movie universes, leading to some fun twists on the character's dogma. It's also a plus that "Batman" is Telltale's strongest writing in several years. 3: Superhot Developer/Publisher: Superhot TeamPlatforms: PC, OSX, Xbox One Summary: Welcome to the machine. We told you what to dream. "Superhot" uses a easy to understand premise to create one of the best action and puzzle games in recent memory: "Time moves only when you do." With that golden rule established, players are taken through a variety of scenarios inspired by films such as "Die Hard," "Commando," and "The Matrix," but sparsely rendered to eliminate countless antagonists, portrayed only as faceless red men. Quick reflexes may seem required, but the game instead encourages a measure of deliberation to your every move. You could take out a throng of enemies with a machine gun, but remember, you can only chamber another shot when moving. You might be better suited throw that gun back towards them so they're distracted, using each moment of confusion to deliver a left and right hook. Although the game rules can be understood fairly quickly, the narrative wrapping around these scenarios goes off into some bizarre territory about the concept of a player's free will, likely inspired by 1983's David Cronenberg classic "Videodrome." The main story can be cleared in a handful of hours, but additional modes and challenges exist after the credits roll to keep you playing. 2: Doom Publisher: Bethesda SoftworksDeveloper: id SoftwarePlatforms: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One Summary: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, for you to rip and tear once you're through with hell. The "Doom" franchise began in 1993 with the last release of any significance to come out in 2004 with "Doom 3." Similar to movie franchises, the series returned this year with the simply titled "Doom" after almost a decade in purgatory as game developer id Software struggled to come up with a new design philosophy. It's shocking, borderline impossible, that "Doom" is probably the best first-person shooter game released this year that's both modern in design sensibilities as well as willing to not compromise the vision of the 1990s PC classics. As a nameless, faceless space marine occasionally called "The Doom Slayer," you wake on Mars to resume your decades long quest -- murdering the minions of hell even if it takes your bare hands. Rather than attempting slow, brooding horror as in the prior game, "Doom" forces the player to remain agile and constantly on the offensive. A new "glory kill" system awards players with additional health and ammo for eviscerating their foes, celebrating the brutal violence which gave the franchise infamy while also giving a solid rhythm for players to follow in combat. You're always outnumbered, occasionally outsized, but never outmatched. The sense of superiority, near invincibility, players feel comes from a combination of impeccable controls and a level of visual fidelity putting many recent releases to shame. In addition to an extended story campaign, players can also dabble in traditional online mutiplayer modes as well as the brilliant SnapMap. SnapMap allows players to create new levels through a simple editor and share those online, providing a massive amount of content to dive into alone, alongside friends, or against those friends. 1: Tom Clancy's The Division Publisher: Ubisoft, Developer: Massive EntertainmentPlatforms: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One. Summary: Become a member of a civilian special forces unit that answers to no one. Attempt to save Manhattan from a deadly virus by collecting fancy L.L. Bean jackets and fancier machine guns, all while shooting the proletariat. "The Division" is a game exists only on the backs of other titles that came before it, a copycat through-and-through. Furthermore, a lot of the game's premise straddles a thin line between the offensive and the absurd. Contrary to the "Tom Clancy" branding, very little of the game is based in reality or any sort of authentic military simulation. Instead, players traipse around a ruined New York City shortly before the holidays in the search of firearms, survival gear, and more stylish winter clothing while fending off unceasing hordes of rioters, convicts, and psychologically damaged DPW employees. "The Division" is a "loot game," similar to a slot machine without the promise of money at the end. You as a player want to find better equipment to better take on the similar challenges with greater enemy variety and density, all in an attempt to acquire better equipment to do it all over again. Although the game takes place in a grounded world, men and women wearing little more than a hoodie will shrug off hundreds of bullets from your firearms as they're arbitrarily declared a "boss" character. As they're felled, they're dropped more outlandish and gaudy varieties of assault rifles, shotguns, and more- directly aping more fantastical games such as "World of Warcraft" or "Skyrim." Still, this unceasing cycle of acquisition and power creep -- likely a commentary about capitalism as blunt as a ball-peen hammer -- creates an incredibly satisfying endorphin loop to engage with time and time again. A year of updates and expansions has added plenty of ways to play the game from vicious enemies awaiting you in endless dungeons, draped in the facade of city sewers and subways, as well as a unique survival mode which requires the player consider their hunger and hypothermia in the face of a blinding snowstorm.But at the center of the entire experience, and the game's map of Manhattan, lies the unique Dark Zone. Players will find the deadliest enemies in the game as well as the most copious amounts of better equipment inside, but are forced to do so alongside more than a dozen other players. You're all completely free to cooperate, but can -- and likely will -- turn on one another at any point, creating a vicious cycle of watching's one back whenever another person is within your line of sight. Your death carries weight too, as anything you've acquired will be up for the taking as well as your progress sent back significantly. Although other games have played with similar mechanics in the past, "The Division" brings them together in one of the most user friendly and straightforward packages with more updates on the way to draw players back in.